Effect of harvest time on phytochemical characteristics of Momordica charantia

Momordica charantia is an important medicinal plant of cucurbitaceae family. Momordica charantia has recently received growing attention due to its anti-diabetic compound in its immature fruits. It has other beneficial attributes such as hypoglycaemia, anti-carcinogenic, hyper cholesterolemic and Anti-tumor growth. It contains considerable amount of water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and fiber. Fruits also contain charantin, momordicin, Vitamin C, nicotinic acid, P alanine, y-aminobutyric acid, aspartic acid, citrulline, glutamic acid, glutamine and other bioactive compounds. A field experiment was conducted to examine the effect of different stages of fruit maturity (۱H, ۲H, ۳H and ۴H) on the qualitative attributes of bitter melon (Vijay cultivar) during June to October ۲۰۱۸ in the Research farm of University of Zanjan, Iran. The results show that the highest amounts of total phenol (۷۳.۳۸ mg GA/g DW), total flavonoid (۳.۱۸ mg Q/g DW) and TSS (۵.۴۹ mg/l) was observed in ۱۶ days after fruit set (۴H). However, the highest amount of titerable acidity (TA) was obtained in ۸ days after fruit set (۲H). Although there were no significant effects between different harvest times on vitamin C and carbohydrates, but the maximum amount of vitamin C (۲۴.۸۶ mg/g DW) and carbohydrate (۱.۸۹ mg G/g DW) were recorded at stage ۳H. As a result, harvesting fruits at different stages of maturity can display different bioactive compounds and phytochemical characteristics.